A WATER CURRENCY EVENT

A few days ago, in a fit of uncharacteristic cleaning, I removed a drawer from a small Eastlake chest I use to store things I never look at again but think I may do so some day.

At the back of the inside of the chest, behind the drawer, an interesting item was wedged. It is a colonial note for four shillings, dated August 2, 1775, issued by the Colony of New York to finance its water works. The top of the note reads: "New York Water Works." It is small, about 2 inches by 31/2 inches, and is hand signed. It reads, in part: "This note shall entitle the Bearer to the sum of Four Shillings current money of the Colony of New York, payable on Demand, by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, at the Chamberlain of said City, pursuant to a vote of the said Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty, of this date." On the back of the note are pictured a water pumping station and flowing fountains.

This note, as well as similar notes, were colonial currency of the day. I had purchased it early in my career as a curious illustration of an early form of financing for a municipal water system.

Interestingly, this note, which is over 235 years old, was issued less than one month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It also was a time when there were many loyalists in New York, some of which still thought that a compromise could be reached with the king of England.

Today, some water system improvements are financed by the issuance of bonds, with the debt service recovered in rates paid by the users of the systems-a procedure not that different from the essence of the 1775 note. However, today there appears to be a growing trend, and dependence, toward "financing" water system improvements by receipt of grant money from the federal and state governments. Of course, not every system can receive a grant, which means that users of other systems may be financing systems that provide no benefit to them.

There were no grants in 1775 to finance water system improvements. How did they do it? Maybe, occasionally we need to look at the back of a drawer for unseen ideas forgotten because we see only the immediate.